Battle of the Generations: The 2006 DTM Season Review

By the middle of October 2005 it seemed that Bernd Schneider's time in the DTM had passed. The man who had regularly been called the Schumacher of the German series had been quiet all year, while young guns Mattias Ekstrom and Gary Paffett had duelled for the title.

Jean Alesi and Mika Hakkinen had also chipped in with victories for Mercedes, leaving Schneider as the only Mercedes driver in the main HWA team without a victory heading into the season finale at Hockenheim.

But after a difficult period of time in his life away from racing, Schneider was determined to prove that he hadn't lost it. He bounced back to win the final race of the season, and took that momentum into 2006.

He opened his account this year with two wins, and after that showed incredible consistency to keep racking up the points, while the rest gave chase from distance. He finished every race in the top five, which was a record nobody else could get close to.

Battle of the Generations

After suggestions that a change of guard had taken place in DTM, with younger drivers taking the title in 2004 and 2005, Schneider completely threw that theory out of the window this year, for the second time.

In 2003 he had come out on top after a tense battle for the championship with Mercedes teammate Christijan Albers, but when he had no answer for the next two twenty-somethings that would fight over his crown, many had written Schneider off.

Crucially, the 42-year-old never wrote himself off.

"I always knew what I can do and I didn't get worried about it," he said. "In motor racing, there is a high after every low."

After his explosive start to the season, Schneider sealed the title in the penultimate round with a result that equalled his worst position of the year, crossing the line at Le Mans in fifth place. The race was a perfect demonstration of his refusal to give up, though, after a long trip through the gravel dropped him to the back on lap 1.

This year, he wasn't the only elder statesman beating the pesky kids, though. Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, aged 39, was the German's strongest opposition for the majority of the season, and the Dane even led the championship after three rounds.

Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline), Brands Hatch © LAT

However, Kristensen's season turned at Brands Hatch, where a mechanical failure pitched his car off the road in the closing stages, while on course for a second consecutive victory.

He did take a second victory of the year at Zandvoort to keep himself in the championship hunt, but an incident-packed race at Barcelona left him with only a small hope of the title heading into the final two races.

Two third places were a solid end to the season, but they were not enough for Kristensen to hold off the find of the season, Bruno Spengler.

The Canadian driver was promoted to the top Mercedes team to replace 2005 champion Gary Paffett after scoring a handful of points in older machinery during his debut year, but he took four wins in the final six races of the year to secure second place behind Schneider.

Audi's top young gun was someone with plenty of DTM experience, but 2006 turned out to be a breakthrough year for Martin Tomczyk, as the German finally took his first win after six years of trying.

The 24-year-old has lacked consistency during his time with Audi. His fourth place is one better than he managed in 2004, but in the year between them, he was a disappointing 13th. He will hope to use this year as a springboard on to better things and prove to his bosses that he can run at the sharp end for two consecutive seasons.

The Grand Prix Winners

While Bernd Schneider does qualify as an ex-Formula One driver - he drove for Zakspeed between 1988 and 1990 with little success - the German didn't make a name for himself in the same way that some of his rivals from this year had done in the top-level open-wheel series.

In recent years, the DTM has benefited from the arrival of some well-known F1 stars, but Mika Hakkinen, Jean Alesi, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen will want to forget 2006 rather quickly.

Hakkinen had laid the foundations for a championship charge with a solid debut season in 2005, but three podium finishes were a poor return this year, and he failed to add to the maiden victory that he scored at Spa in only his third race last year.

The Finn put the lack of success down to luck, and added that his team had worked hard, but they just hadn't got the breaks they needed during the year. A victory could have been on the cards at Le Mans, but he was told to hold station behind teammate Spengler in the closing stages.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline), Norisring © LAT

Alesi started the year disappointed to be dropped from the top Mercedes outfit, and the Frenchman had to be satisfied with picking up points whenever he could in 2005 machinery. While he provided plenty of entertainment in the middle of the field, it was clear he wasn't pleased with his demotion.

2006 turned out to be the Frenchman's last year in the championship that he joined in 2002 after retiring from F1, and the same is probably the case for Frentzen.

The German secured a drive with Audi after Opel withdrew from DTM at the end of last year, but his two best qualifying performances of the year resulted in two races he would hope to forget.

Frentzen qualified third on the grid at Brands Hatch, but shortly after completing his flying lap he lost control of his car and had a huge accident at the first corner. The team worked overnight to fix it, and he was able to start the race from a promising position.

However, he spent much of the afternoon as a big white road block, holding up a long train of cars simply because overtaking was almost impossible on the short Indy circuit at Brands Hatch.

Frentzen stopped shortly before the end of the race, but Audi boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich insisted that his car had been repaired perfectly. However, there were bigger disagreements to come.

For the season finale at Hockenheim, Frentzen had qualified on pole, but felt he had lost out on a good result because of pit strategy. He then collided with Mattias Ekstrom in the closing stages and retired.

Frentzen launched a verbal attack on his Audi team in the TV interviews after the race. He claimed that he hadn't had any support from the team all year, and it took Audi less than 24 hours to show him the door.

The Forgotten Men

Two drivers that were expected to mount a serious championship charge failed to meet those expectations in 2006.

Jamie Green was tipped to take over from his countryman Gary Paffett and continue the British success in the championship, while 2004 champion and 2005 runner-up Mattias Ekstrom was expected to thrive in Paffett's absence.

Neither did.

Green was determined to prove he was more than just a fast qualifier, but four poles and no wins suggest otherwise. However, he was pleased with how he had progressed through the season, and believes that only a lack of good fortune prevented him from challenging for the title.

Mattias Ekstrom (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline), Hockenheim © LAT

But Green won't be able to keep that brave face on when he looks back at his home race. Luck was on his side when Tom Kristensen retired from the lead, and all the Brit had to do was reel off the closing laps to take his maiden victory in front of his home fans.

Instead, he clipped the grass before turning into Graham Hill bend, and ran off track as he collected the slide, handing victory to Ekstrom.

But it was to be the only highlight of Ekstrom's year, as the Swede failed to repeat his form of the past two seasons.

While eventual champion Schneider blasted out of the blocks with two wins, Ekstrom was still in the blocks heading into the third round of the season after starting his year with two retirements.

He was able to stay out of trouble to win at Brands Hatch, but only picked up 11 points during the rest of the season.

So while 2006 went the way of a well-deserving over-40, the young guns won't be giving up, and the stage is set for the DTM to continue providing fans with a unique battle of the generations in 2007.